Since their relationship began, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle cannot so much as walk several feet without royal observers, press members, and, to an extent, the general public, remarking upon the most minute aspects of their appearance and interactions. Why is Meghan wearing a blazer that color? What does it mean that Harry is walking seven inches ahead of her? Why don’t Kate and William exchange glances that look like their glances?

To some extent, this is the nature of the royal family and coverage of the royal family. Their appeal, their core identity, is related to the traditions that have been in place for centuries. That they aren’t like us, and that they seem to exist in this somewhat “fairy-tale” world, is of course a major part of the draw. And most of the time, they are getting photographed (and then photographed some more, and then photographed from this other angle, and so on) when they make appearances, without speaking to the press, so all we really have to go on is what they’re wearing and how they are relating to one another spatially. (This is why royal lip-reading and royal body-language analyses are so popular.)

Lately, Meghan and Harry’s public displays of affection are garnering a whole lot of attention. The two are often—gasp—holding hands or linking arms or smiling at one another during their appearances. For regular couples, this would be extremely non-notable—but in the context of the royal family, and given the way in which it differs from William and Kate—it is as if Meghan was showing up to each event wearing a tie-dye shirt and holding a bunch of sparklers. In the recent official photographs from Prince Louis’s christening, Meghan had her arm linked in Harry’s, which led one outlet to say their physical affection “broke royal protocol.”
William and Kate are, of course, also scrutinized to an extreme degree, though their level of “P.D.A.” has not been a focal point of the coverage, as they are not a “touchy-feely” couple during their official appearances.

People, meanwhile, has a report today that Meghan and Harry are “used to being touchy-feely.” Mark Stewart, a longtime royal photographer, told the magazine, “They are not afraid to hold hands. They don’t mind showing their emotions.” A former palace spokesman, Dickie Arbiter, said, “Meghan is used to being touchy-feely, and Harry is the same,” continuing, in a quote you wouldn’t expect to be uttered about a royal-family member, “Harry has always been tactile.”

Some royal pundits are perplexed by all this speculation. Royal-etiquette expert Myka Meier told People, “While Prince Harry and Meghan holding hands is atypical for royal engagements, it is a seemingly welcomed gesture to show unity and celebration of their engagement period.” And she reiterated that it is not rule-breaking, either: “There is no protocol that says they can not show affection on official engagements, and this gesture makes them relatable and lovable to the public.” Hello! magazine’s Emily Nashnoted on Twitter that royal family members have been showing affection for decades. It seems probable that, at a certain point, the fact that Meghan and Harry hold hands will become a given, and thereby a more boring focal point for the British tabloids—at which time it is certain they will have moved onto something else.